Several housing unions from les Corts, la Verneda i el Besòs, el Poble-sec and Sants stormed the office of the Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya on Friday to demand the halt of the evictions of ten families who live in properties owned by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The protest places the focus on a contradiction that the collectives consider unacceptable. They denounce that the administration promotes expulsions of residents from public housing and, at the same time, does not offer a housing alternative in at least two evictions already scheduled for the end of May and June.
Ten families demand that the Agència stop already scheduled evictions
The action was promoted by housing unions from four areas of Barcelona after, as they explain, dozens of failed attempts to open a negotiation with the autonomous body. Their demand is to stop all procedures, both those that already have a fixed date and those that remain open.
Marta Espriu, spokesperson for the Confederació Sindical de l'Habitatge de Catalunya, maintained that the affected properties belong to the Generalitat de Catalunya. She also pointed out that among the cases there are executions with a closed date and other files that are still being processed.
In their public complaint, the collectives accuse the Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya of expelling residents from public housing and also denying them access to the emergency table. The immediate request consists of opening a negotiation table that allows reviewing the ten cases.
A tenant from Sants-Montjuïc has the eviction set for the end of the month
One of the cases that the unions highlighted is that of Sarai, tenant of an apartment in the Sants-Montjuïc district. The woman has an eviction date for the end of this month and assures that two minors aged one and three also reside in her home.
"They don't want to fix anything, they leave us on the street with two children, two minors aged one and three" - Sarai, affected tenant
The tenant also explained that she has lived in that property for four years. In her account, she rejected that the conflict is due to a refusal to assume the payment of the housing.
"I don't refuse to pay, we have two salaries" - Sarai, affected tenant
Among the ten cases for which the unions protested, two evictions are scheduled for the end of May and June without a housing alternative, a point that focuses the demand to halt all procedures.